William j



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Lemmpmm No. 79,498, ma Jam s0, 186s. `r

IMPRVEMENT IN TICKET-PUNOHES.

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To ALL WHoM 1r MAY coNeEnN:

vBe it knowuthat I, WILLIAM J'. PHELPS, of. Springfield, in the county-of Hampden, and Commonwealth'iof' Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Ticket-Punches; and I/do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and'exact description thereof, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings,

makng'a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference inarked thereon,vi n which- Figure 1 is a side view of a punch with my invention applied. Figure 2 is a side elevation ofthe spindle or die. Figure 3 is a plan -view of the die. Figure 4 is a plan view of the counter-die.

My invention relates more particularly to the die or punching-portion of what is known as a eonductors punch or ticket-punch, although it is equally applicable to a ticket-punch for use in the oilicc or counting-room,

for cancelling papers; and it consists in such construction of the die and counter-die of a punch, whereby the.

printed orwriteu matter upon a ticket will still remain plain and discernihle,i even after the said ticket or coupon has beenv cancelled or punched.

In most of the railroad-cor'porations, the conductors upon the diii'erent trains have different-shaped dies in their punches, each conductors punch having a d iiferent-shaped die from any of the4 others, and many of these dies are of such form that when a cond'uctorfpunches a ticket to cancelv it, some important figure or character upon the coupon or ticket is often cut out and lost. These tickets or coupons are4 generally used in the office, when returncd,insettling up'the eonductors ticket-account, and .itis known what conductor punched each ticket or coupon by the shape of the hole punched in each ticket, each conductor being known by the peculiar shape of his die in his` punch. v I

These figures upon the tickets or coupons, it is very desirable and alinost necessary to preserve, as ofteri times much confusion and diilieulty arise in the settlement of conductors tickctfaecounts from sonic *oil the ligures being cut or punched out. Conductors are often, and in fact are generally, instructed to he careful, .in cancelling tickets on a train, not to punch out the ingures, but, as the 'trains are often crowded, andvarius other causes arising, which compel them tocaneel-,tlicir ,tickets in .more orlcss haste, they cannot or do lnot 1observe where they punch the-tickets. Much has beendene to remedy 'thediiculty, but as yet to no purpose. So, also, in the counting-room, it is often desirable to cancel answered letters, or check orders which haveI been vfiled, or otlier'writtcn or printed matter, by punching, without cutting out any important characters or figures, Aor destroying any part, so that its value cannot be ascertained.

By the use of a punch with myinvention applied, all danger of mutilating printed matter or written is entirely ohriated, while all the'tiekets may he cancelled in nearly the same place, or at the snnicdistance from the edge.

That others skilled in the art may be able to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the drawings- Fig. 1 is aside view of a ticket-punch, its general construction being similar to that for which Letters PatentV were granted me, bearing date September I7, 1867, but the cutting-dic I now make in the following rnanner:

cl represents the spindle, the upper part, f, being made fiat down to the shoulder z", and the lower portion, or the part b'elcw the shoulder s, I construct by cutting or4 milling away all the lower portion oi' the die up to thev said shoulder s, except the projections o o o o, which I leave suilieiently long to protrude through the paper or ticket tobe punched, and into the counter-die c. Said counter-die c, I ruake of the proper form toghe intro- 'duced into its place inthe lower jaw/of the body C of the'punch, and in said countcr-diee, I make a ser-ies or group of perforations, o o o o', the general form of the whole series or group corresponding to that of the whole series or group of projections o o o o upon tli'c die or spindle cZ, and cach perforation, o", in said counterdie c being of the proper size and shape.I to closely it around its corresponding projection o, whetn said projection is within its perforation, so that when the article, to be punched is placed in the slot o, and between the die d and counter-die c, and the die or spindle d is brought down by forcing the two levers A B together, each pro- A jection o upon said die is forced through the paper or ticket, and down into its corresponding perforation o in the counter-dic c, carrying before it the small bit out out ofthe paper, which' falls out at the orifice t.

It is obvious that any character which can be used by making the cutting-portion of the die solid, can also be used in my invention, by making or grouping the Whole series of projections o o, and the corresponding perforations o o, in the sameg'e'ncral form; that in'thc accompanyn5.T drawing boingr ir the form of a triangle, while it might, with equal facility, have been made in the form of-any letter,igure, or character.`

It is obvious that the projections o o may be either prismatic or cylindrical in form, in eithercase the perforations o o in the counter-die e, being, of course, of a. corresponding forni to the projections o o; 'and .the projections o o may be somewhat longer upon one side. of the die, and decreasing in lengthtowards .theothcr side, in order to give a shearing out, or to enable some of the projections o c to partially make their out vbefore the others, thus partially relieving the strain required to make the perforation of the whole series.

A ticket-punch made'with my invention appled'is durable, is as compact and convenient as any other punch "in use, and can be manufactured as cheaply as the ordinary punch,=while theadvantages attending its use, in

preserving important written or printed matter upon certificates, coupons, ticketsand.other articles, is quite manifest.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letterslatcnt, is

In a ticket-punch, a die and counter-die, consisting of a group or series of projections o o, and corresponding perforationso o', said'group or series of projections and perforations being formed into any desired letter,

-gure, or character, all constructed and operating substantially as described, and for the purposes herein specified.

WM. J. PHELPS.y

Witnesses T. A. CURTIS, F. E. Rica. 

